Blog

HERAE will be
demonstrating “IntelliRemit” for healthcare payers and DirectERATM for
healthcare providers at the Americaâs Health Insurance
Plans (AHIP) Institute June 9 â 11 in Las Vegas. IntelliRemit reduces bank fees, ensures prompt pay compliance and
enhances provider satisfaction with one end-to-end electronic solution.
By providing a single bank ACH file and transforming thousands of
varying format 835s and ERA files into a single standardized electronic
835 for providers, HERAE can save payers thousands of dollars in bank
fees, while the automatic payment and remittance re-association vastly
improves providersâ revenue cycle. Cash management is enhanced by IntelliRemitâs payment interval tools
that translate state and federal prompt pay laws and provider agreements
into optimized payment timing. Remittance restructuring services
identify claims that need to be paid, resulting in better daily control
over cash management and increased efficiencies. DirectERA, HERAEâs all-payer solution for providers, which enables a
secure, HIPAA-compliant paperless payment process that requires no
software or IT upgrades, will also be demonstrated at AHIP.

CO-based IP Commerce multi-service, multi-channel open API platform is updating its Managed Commerce Services Platform and developer APIs. These updates address developer features to innovate on behalf of, and in partnership with, all participants in the payments industry and are based on more than thirty iterations of the IP Commerce APIs and five years of experience working directly with the payments developer community. The Commerce Service Bus, a core component of the IP Commerce Platform, supports dynamic and flexible Commerce Business Rules, provides additional Value-Added Services to developer workflows, and extends the Federated Identity governance inherent in the Platform. The exposure of this component and features within, through the developer APIs, allow for the creation of new and innovative workflows by developers expediting their time-to-market and ensuring the appropriate services are available more rapidly than ever before.

While delinquencies have been slowly improving, chargeoffs have been holding steady at over 10% for a full year now. Prime credit card chargeoffs rose by 17 basis points (bps) to 11.10%, driven mainly by a 168 bps increase in defaults within the BA Credit Card Trust. Credit card chargeoffs in U.S. have remained high for all of this year, with the index averaging 11.17% through April versus 8.59% during the same period last year. Year-over-year chargeoff comparisons fell to 15% from more than 50% in the first-quarter 2010. This, according to Fitch, also showed late payments dropped another nine bps to 4.18%. All credit card issuers that comprise Fitch’s index, with the exception of the Citibank Credit Card Issuance Trust (which only had a 1 bps increase), reported lower delinquency rates indicating fewer borrowers might default in the coming months. Meanwhile, 30+ day delinquencies also fell by 21 bps to 5.53%. Year-over-year, early stage delinquencies also declined by 61 bps (10%). Monthly excess spread fell 88 bps to 8.01% in April – a combined result of the drop in yield and increase in defaults, while the three-month average excess spread rose by 61 bps to 8.28%. The retail credit card chargeoff index rose 22 bps to 13.23 % in April. Retail chargeoffs were 115 bps (10%) higher than the same period last year but below its all-time record high of 13.41% in February 2010.

The Travelocity Rewards American Express Card, issued by Barclaycard US, is offering five different dream trips to the Grand Prize Winners of an exciting sweepstakes that will run during the summer of 2010. Grand Prize Winners will receive one of five dream trips to Chile, New Zealand, South Africa, Switzerland and Orlando. Benefits include for U.S. to Santiago, Chile two roundtrip business class air tickets, nine nights hotel accommodations, tour accommodations on the Colchagua Valley Wine Train and the Santiago City Tour, plus a $500 American Express Gift Card; for U.S. to Auckland, New Zealand, two roundtrip business class air tickets, eight nights hotel accommodations, tour accommodations on the Bay of Islands Tour and the Milford Sound Tour, plus a $500 American Express Gift Card; for U.S. to Cape Town, South Africa, four roundtrip business class air tickets, five nights hotel accommodations, plus $1,500 in American Express Gift Cards for dining, entertainment and ground transportation, for U.S. to Zurich, Switzerland, two roundtrip business class air tickets, eight nights hotel accommodations, tour accommodations on the Zurich City Tour and the Glacier Paradise Tour, plus a $500 American Express Gift Card; and for Orlando, four roundtrip air tickets, five nights hotel accommodations, Four (4) Four-Day Park-to-Park Access Tickets for Universal Studios, plus a $500 American Express Gift Card.

POS solution provider Celerant Technology was
recently named a 2010/2011 “Microsoft Certified Partner for the Mid
Market Provider Competency”. The title of Microsoft Certified Partner is
given to companies that demonstrate a proficiency in Microsoft products
and deliver a great service to their client base. Celerant has received
the competency for Networking Infrastructure since 2001, which has now
been changed to the Mid Market Provider Competency.
Celerant Technology has earned Microsoft Certification for the past 10 years.
The level of service offered by Celerant Technology is
demonstrated through this certification, along with excellent customer
support based on advanced technical knowledge that is vital to the
retail software industry.

OKI Data Americas has unveiled its “LE810” thermal label printer. The versatile device provides end users with the flexibility and convenience of adding new applications, eliminating the need to upgrade or purchase new hardware. This unique product feature truly differentiates the device from any other label printer in the market at this price pointi, making it a more convenient alternative to the competition. The “LE810” features user replaceable interfaces for increased convenience; is built standard with Dual Data Buffering (DDB); processes two data streams simultaneously; save space with an internal backing rewinder; is lightweight and compact. The printer can be run on Ethernet, USB, Serial or USB/Parallel/Serial.

Fiserv has acquired CA-based AdviceAmerica integrated advisor solutions.
AdviceAmerica will
become a strategic part of the Investment Services unit of Fiserv, which
is the market leader with the industry-leading technology platform for
managed accounts. The integration of AdviceAmericaâs Desktop Advisor platform with leading
portfolio management, reporting and trading solutions will provide
significant benefits to Fiserv clients and financial advisors. The
addition of AdviceAmericaâs front-office tools make Investment Services
from Fiserv a market leader in the growing sponsor, bank wealth
management, registered investment advisor, and insurance company
channels. Its capabilities expand the Fiserv portfolio to enable an
integrated, scalable solution for providing holistic advice based upon a
broader view of an entire householdâs assets and goals.
Financial terms were not disclosed.

Stephen Wecksler has been appointed Paymetric VP, business development. Bringing with him more than ten years’ experience in the financial services industry, Wecksler served as executive VP with FirstView prepaid debit card and e-billing solutions provider, following various roles selling, supporting and implementing nationwide retail prepaid long distance card programs during a five year tenure at MCI/Worldcom. He also spent six years in the Change Management Practice at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) and led business development activities for the RBS WorldPay Prepaid and Loyalty Sales Team. Steve holds a B.A. from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the University of Alabama.

J.P. Morgan has issued a new report titled âPaymentâs
New Land of Opportunityâ that features real-life success stories from J.P.
Morgan clients that have implemented Single-Use Accounts and extended
the use of their purchasing card programs to hold on to cash longer, pay
suppliers sooner, increase rebates and reduce A/P manpower costs.
Companies are looking beyond traditional spend categories and targeting
non-traditional suppliers for purchasing card payments. Some companies
are capturing higher rebates and paying vendors more quickly by using
purchasing cards to pay for temporary employment services, utilities,
employee drug screening, on-premise security services, legal service
providers, advertising and modeling agencies. Companies using Single-Use Accounts report results such as more
efficient A/P processing, improved fraud protection, increased working
capital and larger financial rebates. Until recently, the prime focus for treasury departments has been at two
ends of the payment spectrum. Credit cards have traditionally been used
for travel and entertainment and some low-dollar expenses, while ACH has
been reserved for the high-ticket, direct suppliers. Check processing,
renowned for its high cost and no revenue benefit, has filled in all the
gaps. Now, companies see a new land of opportunity: the fertile âmiddle
groundâ of payment, encompassing a wide field of transactions that have,
until this point, been handled by paper.

Hospitality POS provider Radiant Systems has announced that food and beverage consultancy
David Laris Creates is implementing the Aloha Enterprise solution and Radiant P1220 point-of-sale (POS) terminals within many of the group’s unique food and beverage concepts. These sites were sold and are serviced by Virtual Technologies, one of Radiant’s resellers in Shanghai. The Aloha Enterprise solution allows each concept to improve employee productivity, provide faster service and better manage guest lists and reservations, helping management achieve higher levels of control across its locations. The solution’s in-depth reporting capabilities also allow management to notice and correct inefficiencies within its operations, which helps minimize waste and maximize bottom-line profits. Four new food and beverage concepts located in the 2011 World Expo Village in Shanghai are among the David Laris Creates sites that are utilizing the Aloha Enterprise solution. These sites provide expo visitors with examples of the chic and casual dining segments that have seen outstanding growth in China.

HERAE healthcare e-payment service provider will be demonstrating its “IntelliRemit” for healthcare payers and DirectERATM for healthcare providers at the Americaâs Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) Institute June 9 â 11 in Las Vegas. HERAE solution is an all-payer, e-payment solution leveraging the Company’s proprietary technology and its connections with payers within its Financial Healthcare Network(FHN) to manage electronic remittances and electronic fund transfers (EFTs) quickly and easily. HERAE anticipates continued and rapid growth for the company due to the recent healthcare reform bill mandates that call for a complete electronic payment system for healthcare by July, 2012. Cash management is enhanced by IntelliRemitâs payment interval tools that translate state and federal prompt pay laws and provider agreements into optimized payment timing while its remittance restructuring identify claims that need to be paid.